Prevalence of epilepsy and seizure disorders as causes of apparent life- threatening event (ALTE) in children admitted to a tertiary hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and describe clinical characteristics of seizure disorders and epilepsy as causes of apparent life- threatening event (ALTE) in children admitted at the emergency and followed in a tertiary hospital.

METHOD: Cross-sectional study with prospective data collection using specific guidelines to determine the etiology of ALTE.

RESULTS: During the study, 30 (4.2%) children admitted to the hospital had a diagnosis of ALTE. There was a predominance of males (73%) and term infants (70%). Neonatal neurological disorders and neuropsychomotor development delay were found respectively in 13.4% and 10% of the cases. Etiological investigation revealed that 50% of the cases were idiopathic, and 13.4% were caused by epilepsy or seizure disorders. Although all patients had recurrent ALTE events, epilepsy had not been previously suspected.

CONCLUSION: Epilepsy should be included in the differential diagnosis of ALTE, particularly when events are recurrent.